August 6, 2017
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 06.08.2017, 13:57
EXTREME HEAT – Meteorologists have extended the code red alert for extreme heat, but only for two counties in the south-west, where the highs today will reach 40-41 degrees Celsius. Three quarters of the country remain under code orange alert. The extreme heat wave hit Romania on Friday and has created many problems, with a temperature – humidity ratio exceeding the critical 80 unit threshold. As of tonight, until Monday, though, torrential rain, hail and thunder storms are expected to hit the north, north-west and the mountain areas. Temperatures will stay high next week as well, especially in the plain areas. Four people have died and hundreds have needed medical attention because of the extreme heat. First-aid tents have been set up in all major cities to provide fresh cold water to people. Mobile ambulance and medical services have been placed on high alert and speed restrictions are in place on the national railway network as well as on the countrys main roads with a view to avoiding accidents. The noon reading in Bucharest was 37 degrees Celsius.
MARASESTI – Military and religious ceremonies are held today in Romania, to honour the heroes who died in WWI. President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea are attending today the ceremony marking 100 years since the battle of Marasesti, in Vrancea County, considered the Romanian Armys most important military operation in WWI. One of the most imposing monuments in the country, the Marasesti Mausoleum was built on the field where, in the summer of 1917, the Romanian Army stood against the much better equipped German army. 480 officers and 21,000 soldiers died back then.
DRILL – The Greek training ship Rodos is having a three-day stopover in the Romanian Black Sea Port of Constanta. The 230 crew members will visit the Fleet Commanders Office, the Naval Forces Warrant Officers School, the Mircea cel Batran Naval Academy and the Romanian Navy Museum. Civilians are allowed on board the ship on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the ship will leave Constanta and will take part in a bilateral drill in the Black Sea together with the Dimitrie Nicolescu Minesweeper and Horia Macelariu Corvette.
UN SANCTIONS – China and South Korea have hailed the new sanctions imposed by the UN on North Korea on Saturday. The UN Security Council endorsed unanimously a resolution that bans exports and limits foreign direct investments in North Korea, in response to last weeks testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles. The US President Donald Trump has hailed Chinas and Russias support for the resolution. The tests conducted by Pyongyang have been harshly criticised at international level. Experts in the field, however, doubt the north-Korean missiles capacity to hit the set targets.
UNTOLD – Today is the last day of the third edition of the electronic music festival Untold, the largest of its kind in Romania and one of the largest in Europe. Some 200 Romanian and foreign artists have performed on ten stages hosted by the city of Cluj-Napoca in north-western Romania. The main stage was dubbed Dragons Nest and is the largest ever devoted to a Romanian production: 100 m wide and 35 m tall. In a very short period of time, Untold has become an international phenomenon. At the first edition, in 2015, it was designated the best festival in Europe, and in 2016 it was a genuine hit, with more than 300,000 spectators from Romania and abroad.
ANONIMUL – The 14th International Independent Film Festival Anonimul starts in Sfantu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta, on Monday. At the opening gala, the Mexican director Michel Franco, the festivals special guest this year, will be awarded the Anonimul trophy for contribution to the beauty of universal cinematography. The gala will be followed by the first screening in Romania of the film Aprils Daughter, for which Michel Franco won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. For a week, the festival will host many film screenings and music shows.
TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranking 2nd in the WTA classification, is second seed at the Toronto tournament, with 2.5 million dollars in prize money, which is due to start on Monday. Halep, who won the Rogers Cup title, goes straight to the second round, where she will play against the winner of the game between the American Madison Keys (no. 21 WTA) and the Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (no.30 WTA). On Saturday, another three Romanians reached the final tour of qualifications for the tournament. Irina Begu defeated the Japanese Miyu Kato, Patricia Tig eliminated the Russian Natalia Vihlianteva, and Sorana Cirstea won the game against Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.
